Design Science Research in Information Systems: Cycles of Activities
Professor and Eminent Scholar, Citigroup/Hidden River Chair of Dist. Technology
Information Systems and Decision Sciences
College of Business University of South Florida
October 9, 2009
Alter Hall 405, 1000 – 1130am
Design science research seeks to extend the boundaries of human and organizational capabilities by creating new and innovative artifacts. In this presentation, I will describe the performance of design research in Information Systems via a concise conceptual framework and clear guidelines for understanding, executing, and evaluating the research. I then analyze design science research as an embodiment of three closely related cycles of activities – the Relevance Cycle, the Rigor Cycle, and the central Design Cycle. The recognition of these three cycles in a research project clearly positions and differentiates design science research from other research paradigms in the Information Systems field. The presentation concludes with a discussion of several key issues concerning Design Science research in IS – publication in top journals, external funding, and academic value.
A. Hevner, S. March, J. Park, and S. Ram, “Design Science Research in Information Systems,” Management Information Systems Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1, March 2004, pp. 75-105 (pdf).
A. Hevner, “A Three Cycle View of Design Science Research,” Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2007, pp. 87-92 (pdf).
S. Purao, C. Baldwin, A. Hevner, V. Storey, J. Pries-Heje, B. Smith, and Y. Zhu, “The Sciences of Design: Observations on an Emerging Field,” Communications of the AIS, Vol. 23, Article 29, 2008, pp. 523-546 (pdf).